Alma College vs Bard College

Alma College and Bard College, two esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer distinct educational experiences. Alma, a private liberal arts college in Michigan, boasts a 70% acceptance rate and a student body of around 1,300 undergraduates. Bard, a private liberal arts college in New York, has a more selective admissions process with a 35% acceptance rate and a larger student body of over 2,000 undergraduates. Both colleges offer a diverse range of academic programs, with popular majors at Alma including Business, Education, and Psychology, while Bard is known for its strengths in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. Explore the detailed comparison table below to discover more about these institutions, including their graduation rates, student demographics, and additional factors that may influence your college decision.

	Alma College	Bard College
Overview
Location	Alma, Michigan	Annandale-On-Hudson, New York
Campus setting	Town: Distant	Town: Fringe
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	4-1-4	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	79.0%	87.0%
Common app member	Yes	No
Religious affiliation	Presbyterian

Admission
Acceptance rate	68.8%	59.9%
Application fees		Undergraduate: $50 Graduate: $65
SAT range	N/A	N/A
ACT range	N/A	N/A
Students submitting SAT score
Students submitting ACT score
Total number of applicants	2,908	5,167
Total number of admissions given out	2,000	3,096
Admitted students who chose to enroll	319	473
Yield rate	16.0%	15.3%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Not required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$54,879	$72,868
Average net price	$24,302	$24,318
Tuition	$43,602	$57,498
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $6,682 Meal plan: $5,456	$16,760
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	100.0% Average amount $33,081	79.0% Average amount $50,598
Students receiving federal student loan	64.0% Average amount $5,671	49.0% Average amount $5,101
Students taking out private loans	17.0% Average amount $13,784	2.0% Average amount $16,225

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	1,340 Men 42.4% Women 57.6%	2,171 Men 44.4% Women 55.6%
Graduate students	13 Men 30.8% Women 69.2%	420 Men 40.2% Women 59.8%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Very Low	Moderate
Out-of-state students	9.5%	N/A
International students	2.9%	14.7%
Campus local/setting	Town: Distant	Town: Fringe
Dormitory capacity	1,304	1,400
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Michigan Illinois Ohio Texas Indiana	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Education Biological and Biomedical Sciences Health Professions Visual & Performing Arts Communication and Journalism	Liberal Arts Visual & Performing Arts Business Education Natural Resources and Conservation
Students to faculty ratio	13:1	9:1
Institutional accreditation	Higher Learning Commission	Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	62.8%	70.6%
Dropout rate	37.2%	9.9%
Transferred out	N/A	18.3%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $37,983 Year 2: $38,289 Year 3: $46,056 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,213 Year 2: $37,748 Year 3: $36,758 Communication and Media Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $32,979 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $29,685 Year 3: N/A Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $24,178 Year 2: $25,596 Year 3: N/A Health and Physical Education/Fitness (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $29,074 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $28,027 Year 2: $28,236 Year 3: N/A Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $58,918 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $51,158 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Marketing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $30,171 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A	Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $45,261 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature/Letters, Other (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $19,624 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Biological and Physical Sciences (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $30,818 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Social Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $24,172 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Fine and Studio Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $17,518 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Fine and Studio Arts (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $38,944 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Music (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $27,353 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $51,051 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A

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Alma College vs Bard College

Alma College

Bard College

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Admission

Tuition and Fees

Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

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